GOSHEN, Ind. — Mia Pawelski and Bernadette Quintero both homered for the Goshen College softball team on Tuesday, but the Maple Leafs fell in both halves of their first Crossroads League doubleheader of the season, losing 5-4 and 5-3 to fifth-ranked Marian University at the John Ingold Athletic Complex.
Jolie Groeneveld added 3 hits, including a double off the right-field fence in the opener, and Pawelski pitched a complete game in the lidlifter while Rayna Moraga threw 5 innings in relief in game two.
Marian (11-5), whose dominance over the conference in softball has extended to 5 straight league titles and a 44-game league winning streak, outhit Goshen 18-11 across the two games. Raegan Hiatt added a homer for the Knights and Sydney Wilson threw a complete game in the circle.
MU opened the scoring with a Sierra Norman double five batters into the first game, only for Goshen to level three batters into its first inning when reigning conference player of the week Rianna Koteles dropped a bunt that scored Edith Vega from second base. Five pitches later, Quintero almost hit the center-field flagpole with her first collegiate homer to put the Maple Leafs (10-6) up 3-1.
Hiatt went yard in the third inning to put the Knights in front, two pitches after Norman worked a 12-pitch walk to keep the inning alive with two outs, and Goshen went down in order in the bottom of the inning.
GC tied the game in the bottom of the fifth inning on Groeneveld's fence-testing double and a Vega base hit back through the box, but left the go-ahead run on third, which would come back to bite when the Knights got an unearned run after a throwing error in the top of the sixth.
In game two, the teams combined for eight walks before their first hit, which put Marian up 1-0 with no outs in the third before Moraga was summoned from the bullpen and promptly retired the side. The Knights doubled their lead in the fifth inning on a Shelbie Stotts double and an infield single from Hiatt.
That lead was short-lived, though, when Cassandra Espinoza added a one-out single in the bottom of the inning and Pawelski followed three batters later by launching a three-run dinger. The Maple Leafs again led 3-2.
Following an out to start the sixth, the Knights struck with four consecutive singles to plate a pair of runs. Two infield singles and a pair of walks in the seventh scored the insurance run. GC drew a leadoff walk in the sixth and singled to start the seventh but was unable to advance either runner.
Moraga took the loss with 4 runs on 9 hits in game two while Pawelski gave up 5 runs on 8 hits and threw 113 pitches in the opener.
Goshen returns to the field on Friday for its second home date of the Crossroads League season when the Maple Leafs take on Indiana Wesleyan University, the 15th-ranked team in the NAIA. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.
